Choosing to Become Inventive

The good news is that representation of US women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields has risen in recent decades; the bad news: American women ages 16-25 still don’t think of themselves as inventive, despite possessing many of the traits necessary to become inventors. Such were the findings of the 2011 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index, published last week, which guages Americans’ perceptions about invention and innovation.

In numbers

• About 71 percent of young women surveyed indicated that they are creative, the characteristic they most associate with inventors (63 percent).
• Less than one in three (27 percent) described themselves as inventive.
• Two of every five female respondents (42 percent) rate math and science as their favorite subjects in school.
• Thirty-five percent of young women also say they have a family member working in a field related to science, technology, math or engineering.